CPAC: Paul Ryan Calls for Return to Constitutional Principles

This weekend at CPAC, Rep. Paul Ryan called for a return to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and protection of intrinsic natural rights. Paul Ryan's CPAC address wasn't so much a campaign speech or a call to battle as much as it was an ideological primer for "conservatarian" (conservative/libertarian) thought.

There was nothing "new" in his speech, but that made it all the more refreshing. Paul Ryan's CPAC speech offered a return to the basic principles from which we had strayed in recent years.

Paul Ryan at CPAC: Intrinsic Natural Rights

Ryan reinforced the American idea that our rights come from nature and God, not from government. This is in direct contrast with the current general world view that rights such as health care come from the government. Ryan points out that if we give the government the power to grant our rights, then we give the government power to ration our rights.

Rep. Ryan talked about how politicians pay lip service to American Exceptionalism, but in reality they believe that the path to prosperity lies in stimulus ("investment" or government spending). Paul Ryan argued that the path to prosperity lies not in solar shingles and high-speed trains, but rather in protection of intrinsic individual liberties.

Ryan argued that the debt problem wasn't a purely economic matter, but rather a moral challenge. The size of the debt was merely a symptom of deeper causes and diverging beliefs about the role of government. The modern progressive movement believes that society's problems are too complex to be solved without the hand of government. As Ryan believes, if we turn our back on the principles of our founding fathers and believes that their ideas are obsolete, then individual freedoms will begin to whittle away.

Ryan cited political philosopher Friedrich August von Hayek when he spoke of collectivism's fatal conceit, the false and arrogant notion that a few bureaucrats know what's best for society. As Hayek (and the Congressman) argues, no government wizard knows each of our needs and unique talents. Each of us is the best expert on our own unique skill. Genius and innovation can only take place from individual pursuit and voluntary collaboration.

As Paul Ryan argued at CPAC, the Constitution recognizes the natural limits of government. Free markets under the rule will always be the rock of our prosperity.

Paul Ryan at CPAC: Economic vs. Social Conservatism

One debatable statement Ryan made at CPAC was the idea that economic conservatism and social conservatism are inseparable. Some libertarian-leaning conservatives might disagree, arguing that if they truly supported limited government, then they would not support using government to legislate a socially conservative agenda.

In his essay Why I Am Not a Conservative, Friedrich Hayek argued that conservatives were often pulled between socialists and liberals (what we think of as libertarians today). While traditional conservatives went the way of libertarians in supporting free markets, they often went the way of socialists in social policies.

On the other hand, Paul Ryan didn't go into great detail on what he meant by social conservatism (or where he stood on issues such as gay marriage). He did talk about defending the "family" as an institution, but it seemed he may have been referring to abortion and right to life principles, very constitutional and libertarian ideas.

Given the current state of the economy and our standing in the world, this was not the time to get sidetracked on the specifics of social morality. I was glad that Paul Ryan kept the focus of his CPAC address on basic constitutional principles, natural rights, and the return to limited government.

Ryan's CPAC address is available on YouTube.